Student Arrested on Rape Charges

A Harvard College sophomore was arrested Saturday on charges of raping a Harvard student in her Harvard House.

Joshua Elster, 19, of Tucson was arraigned Monday in Cambridge District Court on three counts of rape and two counts of assault and battery. He pleaded not guilty and was released from the Middlesex County Jail in Cambridge on Tuesday night after posting $10,000 cash bail.

District Court Judge George R. Sprague ordered Elster to stay away from the victim and from Harvard but to remain in Massachusetts; a pre-trial conference has been set for Feb. 20. He has taken a leave of absence.

The incident allegedly occurred on Thursday (Jan. 29), and Harvard University Police arrested Elster at Kirkland House, where he resides, on Saturday (Jan. 31) after the victim notified the Harvard University Police Department that she wished to proceed with criminal complaints. Elster was held without bail pending his arraignment on Monday, and he remained in custody until posting bail on Tuesday.

Sgt. Richard Mederos of the Harvard University Police Department is leading the investigation and coordinating efforts with the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.

Under federal law, Harvard reports the numbers of certain incidents, including confidential rape cases. Its police blotter is open to anyone who wishes to review it. In this case, the initial report by the victim on Thursday was confidential and did not appear on the blotter. The report of Elster's arrest on Saturday should have appeared on the blotter that day but did not because of a data entry error that has since been corrected.

Harvard offers a variety of resources for victims of rape and sexual assault, among them University Health Services and Response, a group of undergraduate women available to discuss issues including rape, date rape, and sexual harassment. There are several rape crisis centers in the Boston/Cambridge area. University Health Services publishes a booklet on rape for male and female members of the Harvard community.